Mary After All: A Novel [Kindle Edition]

Bill Gordon (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Mary Nolan's life story is a classic: restless and unhappy in a Jersey City home where she was stifled by a diffident father and an invalid mother, she married too young (at 17), had kids too young (two by the age of 20), then found herself living her life to take care of others—her philandering husband, Bobby, included. But in Gordon's deft hands, Mary tells her story (and also the stories of her friends and family members) with the kind of freshness and chutzpah that make it new again. She's no martyr, that's for sure. She develops a liking for Valium, makes friends with ex-nuns and starts running a numbers business right out of her kitchen. Her beloved but misbehaving kids get smacked. Her husband's floozy-on-the-side gets kicked down the stairs. And Bobby gets himself served with divorce papers, even if Mary doesn't want to give him up entirely. Mary's no-nonsense, hardheaded voice gives way to a mellower, more wistful tone as she grows more independent and comes to terms with the unexpected but generally good turns her life has taken. Gordon's funny, cranky, warmhearted debut will find appreciative readers, and his Italian-American heroine plenty of fans.
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Review

"Bill Gordon's Mary After All is sweet, funny, engrossing, and uncannily real, in the very best sense of that term. You feel like you could just move in for a while--Mary will feed you and put you up on the couch. You may not want to leave, though."
--Luc Sante, author of Lowlife and Factory of Facts

"With remarkable insight into the life of an ordinary woman and an uncanny instinct for finding the perfect detail, Bill Gordon has created a vital,memorable chraracter who transcends her circumstances and takes on almost heroic proportions."
--Joyce Johnson, author of Minor Characters and Missing Men


From the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 421 KB
• Publisher: The Dial Press (December 18, 2007)
• Sold by: Random House Digital, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001334J1Y
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #636,999 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Debut Novel, June 17, 2005

By 

Tanya L. Schaub "TSchlaack" (Livermore, Maine USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mary After All: A Novel (Hardcover)

Mary was born in Jersey City in the 70's to an American Italian family. She has and "Uncle" who has done time, and a Grandfather who runs a "Coffee House". You learn this early in the story as you are told snippets of Mary's life as a child, through her memories. At the age of 12 Mary finds out that her mother has Scleroderma and she takes over caring for the house and her mother. Her father a "musician/truck driver" spends most of his time away from the home.

Mary winds up marrying too young (17), has two kids too young and finds herself taking care of everyone but herself. Her husband is never home, her father drops her mother off every day to be cared for my Mary and she has 2 young boys. Along the way friends come in and out of her life and relatives offer advice. When Mary figures out that her husband has moved his "fling" upstairs in their duplex she takes matters into her own hands. She kicks him out and starts to make changes in her life.

Follow Mary and see how she deals with what life deals her, and what she will and won't forgive. This is a heartfelt story about life's realities.

I have to say that at first I was unsure about the format. You are reliving Mary's life by her telling short stories about her past. But, at the same time I was intrigued by the reality of her stories. There are tough decisions to be made about taking care of her mother and the infidelity of her husband. I found that after a bit I couldn't stop reading the book. I wanted to know that she was ok in the end and that even if it wasn't a fairy tale ending that it was one where the character was still a strong woman and dealing with what life had dealt her.

One of the most surprising parts of this debut novel is that it was written by a man...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, February 17, 2005

By 

cindyramone (New England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mary After All: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is a great book, and I was surprised to like it as much as I did. I never expected a man to write a female character so well, with humor, truth, it is right on the mark. I also did not expect to like it as much as I did, because Bill Gordon started the story with so many characters, that at first it is difficult to get them quite straight, but suddenly the book just takes off, and you are in Mary Nolan's world of family, friends, aunts, you name it. Plot driven, character driven, and it just rings true. Read this book!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic read, January 24, 2005

By 

Lexie (Connecticut, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mary After All: A Novel (Hardcover)

Mary Nolan grew up in Jersey City. She married young and had two

sons. Her husband cheated on her, her father forced her to care for her dying mother, and her best friend moved away.

Bill Gordon is a genius. His book is written in the first person. The man totally understands the mind of a woman.

Bravo!